


Alpha's Kitten

by kaylee_wolf



Category: Original Work
Genre: Cat-shifter, F/M, Major Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Other, Werewolf, Werewolf Mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2019-12-26 00:53:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 11,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18272492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaylee_wolf/pseuds/kaylee_wolf
Summary: Lilith Allen had her entire life planned before she was even 10 years old. Find a mate, have kits, and live happily ever after. However, her life was disrupted when she turned 18. Her parents died and left her little brother, Tristan, in her care.Even if people thought she was too immature, she was determined to have a good life for him to live, like her parents had planned - despite the fact it ruined the plan she had for the past 8 years.She does meet someone, though.  However unlikely it was for them to fall in love.





	1. A Hunter With Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited version!!

A creature closely resembling the night creeps out from the brush, a pregnant rabbit in its sight. A small, thin black cat with golden eyes silently taking a step forward. The rodent lifts her head and catches the scent of the feline in her midst.

With surviving the only thing in her mind, the rodent flees. However, the cat begins a chase, eyes wide from adrenaline. Survival was mutual between the two, except one needed to be killed for the other to survive.

The rabbit won the chase this time, disappearing into a burrow with an entrance too small for the cat to squeeze into. With a yowl of frustration, the cat finds the scent of wolves. It panics and climbs up the nearest tree, freezing once it gets up high enough.

It was a fresh scent like they just passed by. The cat begins to shift into human form clinging to the trees. "Shit, shit, shit," she mutters, pushing her bare skin into the bark. "I thought their territory started farther away."

She had no allies around here. The nearest person she could trust was half a mile away, but she thought the wolves near here were at least twice as far away. Before she could check below to see if they were gone, they came back through in their human form.

"I didn't imagine it! It smells like a cat here!" a woman's voice exclaims.

"No shit, Sherlock. Ferals are all over town," a man's voice responds, causing the creature's heart to drop in relief. "Just leave it alone and let's go back. It must've left a few minutes ago."

"What if its a shifter?" the woman asks, desperation in her voice. "They have healing powers!"

"Those are just rumors. If we take in an innocent shifter, their family might come searching. I don't know about you, but I'm not risking the Pack, alright?"

"Fine. If I end up being right, the Pack will listen to me anyway."

She hears the footsteps fade as she calms herself. "Alright, alright, need to get back to Tristan," she whispers to herself. "He needs me."

As her heart-rate slows, she shifts into her house cat form once again and leaps down from the tree. As her paws hit the ground, she just starts to run. Werewolves meant she was in territory that she underestimated the size of.

Luckily, it seemed that nobody heard her hit the ground, but it was still a matter of time before they found her. That was something she couldn't risk. For her little brother. Running is how she survived.

-

A couple of hours of keeping on the move later, she makes it to the alleyway that led to home. Although it was a security issue (involving cats, mostly), she put in a cat door so that she could get in and out of the house in her cat form.

When she stepped inside and shook off, Tristan came running. He scooped her up into his arms and dug his face into her fur. "Lilith!"

She licks his face and he puts her down so she can shift back. It looked more painful than it actually was, with the bones and whatnot shifting around and the fur receding back into the skin. "How're you doing, buddy? Did you have to shoot anybody?"

The smile on Lilith's face would've made you think she's an exhausted, single mother, but she was nothing more than a sister who wanted to keep her brother safe. "No. But I did almost shoot the delivery man again."

"Always make sure you check who it is first, Tristan. You're expensive enough as you are," she laughs, pulling the boy into her arms. "Missed you."

"Why'd you come back so early, by the way?" he asks, his arms clinging to her like baby chimp does to its mother.

"I, uh, ran into some problems. That's all."

"What was it?" he insists, looking up to her with wide blue eyes. 

"Nothing," she says, with a sigh. She was stressing out on the inside, though. "Anyway, school. How's that going?"

She lets him go and walks side-by-side with him to their scrappy old couch. "Mrs. Stevens says I need to work on my details."

"Do I need to have another meeting with her, Tristan?" she teases playfully. "You know I don't have much time to myself."

"She said she'd help me tomorrow."

"Good. Well, it's... 10:30! Past bedtime, kiddo."

"I had a feeling you'd be home," he blurts out, hiding his face in a pillow. Even if he was nine, his social behavior wasn't normal like other kids'. He'd been like that ever since their parents died.

"You are lucky you were right. Now, let's get you and your worry-fish up to bed." Lilith stood up and waited for Tristan to follow. "Come on, now! I love you, but you need to sleep."

"Yes'm."

The two walk up the stairs, Lilith holding a hand to her brother's back protectively. She had been his legal guardian for four years, but she had been his sister forever. Nothing would change that about them, at least. As they reached his room, Lilith grabbed the stuffed fish he'd won when he was seven, when she took him to the fair. Since then it had been his "worry-fish." He would put it on his head and it would suck the worry out of him, which was a clever trick to get him to stop having nightmares during bedtime.

"Lay down and I'll give you your fish, bud. He'll suck out your worries and you can get to sleep, isn't that right?" she asks, pulling back the blanket for him to get under. "What'd you name him again?"

"Harold."

"Right... Still love that name, don't you?"  she says, smiling down at the stuffed fish as she rubs her thumb across it. "Anyway, put your head down, I'll tuck you in."

He does as he's told and eagerly awaits for the fish to be placed on his head. His grin made Lilith feel like she was doing something right. After a couple of minutes with the fish on his head, Tristan's eyes began to droop with tiredness.

"G'night, Lilith," he mumbles before closing his eyes.

His sister caresses his cheek lovingly, "Yeah, goodnight, buddy."

 


	2. If Not for Yourself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If the fear your harbor is not for yourself, then it is for someone you care for.  
> \---  
> Lilith Allen had her entire life planned before she was even 10 years old. Find a mate, have kits, and live happily ever after. However, her life was disrupted when she turned 18. Her parents died and left her little brother, Tristan, in her care. 
> 
> Even if people thought she was too immature, she was determined to have a good life for him to live, like her parents had planned - despite the fact it ruined the plan she had for the past 8 years.
> 
> She does meet her mate, though. However unlikely it was for them to fall in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited version!!

"Guess the fuck what, Aaron? My mate is dying because you won't believe me! If we tracked down that cat-shifter, he would be  _fine_!" the same female voice Lilith had heard earlier that day screams, sorrow in her voice.

"Look, I'm sorry I don't believe in rumors,"  the male responds. He stands and places his hands on her shoulders, "Alex, he will be perfectly fine, I  _promise_  you that."

"Get your paws off me," she growls weakly, pushing him away.

Siblings, if it wasn't obvious. One is desperate while the other... is lonely, mostly. "I don't know how many more times I can say I'm sorry."

"I want my Kaden back. Not your apologies."

She stormed out, her dark brown hair getting soaked in the emotionally appropriate rain as she briskly walks out of her brother's home. He sat back onto his sofa, his head in his hands. Aaron loves his sister dearly, but he still thought the rumors were ridiculous.

Yet he still contemplated seeking out a cat-shifter.

-

Lilith sat at the foot of her brother's bed, watching him take his breaths as many parents do for their children. It was Thursday morning and she decided to take the rest of the week off. Although she'd usually spend her day doing stuff around the house, Tristan had started doing it so he could spend more time with her when she was home.

However, a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and put her into what she would call her "people-person mode." She quietly got up and left her brother peacefully asleep for the next few minutes. When she reached the door, she put a smile on her face and opened it to see a man about her age standing there.

"Hi, is there something you need help with?" she asks, still keeping her good-natured smile on her face.

"Do you happen to have a cat by any chance?" he asks back, almost sounding embarrassed.

"No, sorry. I think our neighbor does, though." Lilith goes to shut the door before she hears his voice again. This time it was cockier.

"Then why's there a cat door?"

She sighs and makes her stance secured. "Look, I have a pistol within arms reach, I will shoot you if you do not leave. I don't have a cat."

"You smell like one, though."

She knew he was a werewolf as soon as he said the word smell. She slammed the door and bolted it shut with all the locks on it before grabbing the pistol and making sure it was safe to shoot. Lilith kept it aimed at the door even when she heard another knock.

There was no way she was opening that door.

"I'm not here to hurt you!" a muffled voice says dejectedly.

"Every single time I've run into a wolf, they've said that too!" she snarls. She knew the pistol wouldn't hold back a werewolf for long, but Tristan was in danger as long as it was there.

"My sister's husband is dying; I think the rumors of cats having healing powers is stupid, but I need to try something!"

His voice was desperate, maybe even truthful. Lilith knew she still couldn't trust him, of course not, but she still had a heart.

- 

A few moments later, a piece of paper slides through the mail slot to the outside. Aaron picks up the paper and opens it. It gave him an address and a time.

Deciding it was better than nothing, he said a thank you and left, leaving the cat-shifter shaking with the pistol still gripped in her hand.

He hadn't realized the fear wasn't for herself, at least.

-

Lilith rushes up the steps grabbing her emergency backpack that hung near the base. It had everything they needed: changes of clothes, a travel-sized water purifier, and a shit ton of granola bars.

She was going to wake up Tristan and get him to the sitter's house for the night. If there was a chance the werewolf would come back to the house again, she needed him out.

Shaking his shoulder with urgency, she quickly grabs his shoes and shoves them into his unprepared hands.

"I gotta go, work came up," she rushes out slipping on her pair of shoes. "I'll call Jackie to see if she'll have you tonight. You like her, right?"

"Yeah, okay," he says in a hushed voice, mostly tired and not understanding the situation.

"Good, good, good," she mumbles, fear clouding any reasonable judgment she may have had.  She finishes helping her brother get dressed and whisks him down the stairs. "You'll have to eat granola bars if you want breakfast. No cereal."

He nods along and takes one out of Lilith's hand to open it. Through her smiling facade, he could tell she was stressed. Granted, she had never been good at hiding her emotions. Even children could tell what she was feeling.

After he had it opened, she grabbed his other hand and dragged him out the door. Once they were out on the sidewalk, they were both much calmer since people were surrounding them. It was hard for a werewolf to be discreet considering that they're more "blunt-force" creatures.

It took only a few minutes to get to his school. When they reached the door, she knelt and hugged him. "If I don't come to pick you up, tell Jackie it must've been an emergency. Tell her I said I'd call if I didn't come to get you, okay?"

He nods, wrapping his arms around her neck. "I will."

"Be as safe as you can, buddy. I'll come to you as soon as I can. Be safe... Safe."

She lets him go and watches as he walks himself nervously into the building. She had a half-hour until she met with the werewolf, which she hoped wouldn't end with bullets being shot at either side. She got out her phone and called one of the contacts she had on her phone.

"Hey, Jackie, can you, uh, can Tristan stay at your place for the night? I have to go out of the city for work and I don't have anyone else to watch him."

 


	3. Doctor Laila Sheppard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can't have friends if you don't try to make them.  
> \---  
> Lilith Allen had her entire life planned before she was even 10 years old. Find a mate, have kits, and live happily ever after. However, her life was disrupted when she turned 18. Her parents died and left her little brother, Tristan, in her care. 
> 
> Even if people thought she was too immature, she was determined to have a good life for him to live, like her parents had planned - despite the fact it ruined the plan she had for the past 8 years.
> 
> She does meet her mate, though. However unlikely it was for them to fall in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited version!!

She stepped into the store and took a deep breath. It didn't smell the best, but it was where she had the most friends. Granted, they were only her friends because she needed guns. "'Ey, Lilith! What're you doing here?"

"I'm meeting someone. Just thought I'd need a bit more protection than my pistol," she says with a friendly smile. "He'll be coming here in a few minutes."

"Ooh, sounds sketchy, darling," the cashier says, leaning his head against his hand. "What'd he do to deserve this?"

"Some creep came to my door insisting I had a cat." She sighs and runs a hand through her hair, pulling out a few strands as she runs into a knot.

He gasped and reached out to shove her, "How'd he find out?"

"He's a wolf, that's how. Jesus... Mason, what do I do? I... If I don't make it back, take Tristan in, would you? I have it in my will and everything. Just take him in, raise him right, please."

"'Ey, that ain't gonna happen. That fucker tries anything, he gets a bullet to the eye," he says, tapping his pistol in his holster. "He'll be after nonexistent shit anyways, what's one less..."

The sound of the door opening led both of them to stiffen up and look at who came in. "That's him," she says quietly as she and the werewolf lock eyes.

The wolf raises his hands as he approaches slowly. "My name is Aaron."

"Yeah, so what?" Mason growls.

"Mason, don't," Lilith sighs. "I don't care about your name, what do you want?"

"I told you earlier. My sister's husband is dying and he needs help."

Lilith and Mason look to each other and begin mouthing things to one another. Lilith looked sympathetic while Mason looked like he wanted to tear the wolf's face off. "Be more specific," the blond says gently, her brows raised in a way that made her look like she wanted to help.

"She thinks cat-shifters have healing powers. At this point... I-I'm ready to try anything. I just want him to be alright. My sister needs him and I love her too much to say no."

Once again, she looks to her friend with a sympathetic look and nods at him while he keeps shaking his head. "I'll tell you now that I don't have any powers." The silence stabbed her with guilt, but so did the thought of leaving Tristan. "But I have friends who know their shit. Give me one... uh, actually, two hours and we'll meet here."

When his face lit up, she felt she did something right. His excessive nodding and welled-up tears were somewhat refreshing to Lilith, but to her friend, they looked like overkill in a trick. As he left, the blond turned to face her friend. 

"What're you thinking?" he questions, throwing his hands above his head. "You'll get yourself killed!"

"If I happen to get killed like you think I will, take Tristan in and tell him that I love him. If I don't get killed like I think I will, then  _I'll_ take him home and tell him," she says, brushing her hair behind her ears before she laughs, "I'm a slut for doing the right thing."

"I know, but you should still be cautious!" Mason sighs. "You're terrible at staying safe."

"Why do you think I'm trying to be nice to a killing machine, then? Make it owe me, then it can't kill me," she lied. She just wanted to help someone who was in need.

She looks to Mason with a tired, trusting smile and touches his arm gently before turning to leave. As she steps outside, a sharp breeze cuts into her cheek and stabs at her through her jacket. A wake-up call? As if she needed one of those. She thought the last one was plenty good, considering her parents were the victim of it. 

"Alright," she mumbles to herself. "Jackie has Tristan for tonight, if I don't come back in a reasonable amount time, Mason has him... And all I have to do is get Laila to come with me to werewolf territory... Yay."

Pulling out her phone with hesitance, Lilith presses call on another contact and nervously holds the phone up to her ear in case the contact was going to yell. "What the hell are you waking me up for?" they growl into the speaker.

"How do you feel about werewolves?" she asks in a whisper.

-

One hour and forty-one minutes later, Lilith walks back into the store with a woman who had a deep purple in her hair and a sparkle in her eyes. She wore a lab coat that reached just under her knees and held a clipboard to her chest. "You did say werewolf, right? Where is it?"

"Relax. I said two hours, it's got about three minutes till then."

Almost as if it was magic, the bell rings and the same, desperate as ever werewolf walks into the store. He tried to thank them multiple times, but Lilith just brought her arms closer around herself.

"So, are you the dying one?" the purple-haired woman says excitedly, walking around the wolf a couple of times. "Interesting. You don't look almost dead."

"Laila, stop it. That's not the dying one." The blond shakes her head and nudges Aaron. "Go on, then."

-

They trekked to the territory, Lilith becoming more uncomfortable with each step they took. Wasn't it just the other night that she was running from wolves? It was.

Besides, she never liked the smell. She never quite liked the scent of dogs, though. That's what werewolf territory smells like and Lilith hated it. Although, she mostly hoped that Tristan wouldn't be able to smell it on her when she got back home.

"So, you're a werewolf, huh? Never met one in person," Laila says, trying to cut the silence. "I've always been interested in experimenting on one but they're so hard to find."

There was no response. Of course, there wasn't. You don't tell a predator that you want to experiment on their type and expect an answer.


	4. Roundleaf Zinnia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Whatever this is... Humans can't see it."  
> \-----  
> Lilith Allen had her entire life planned before she was even 10 years old. Find a mate, have kits, and live happily ever after. However, her life was disrupted when she turned 18. Her parents died and left her little brother, Tristan, in her care. 
> 
> Even if people thought she was too immature, she was determined to have a good life for him to live, like her parents had planned - despite the fact it ruined the plan she had for the past 8 years.
> 
> She does meet her mate, though. However unlikely it was for them to fall in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited version!! I changed the plant names!!

Not long after Laila tried to break the silence between the three of them did a patrol of werewolves spot them. Lilith stiffened up when she saw them and instinctively prepared to shift. Surprisingly, they bowed. Not to her, but the wolf leading them.

"What're you waiting for?" Laila squeals, excited to see multiple werewolves in one area. 

"I don't like it here," the blond grumbled, crossing her arms. Her only thought was asking herself why she came along when she could've sent Laila by herself. "When we get there, do your shit so we can get going. I am  _not_  staying here longer than necessary."

The purple-haired woman rolls her eyes before she rushes up to walk next to the wolf and begins to question him. If only she'd been born with the ability to shift into a lion or something. Being a house cat wasn't useful in battle.

She hoped Tristan would be luckier than her, being born in August tends to produce cat-shifters that can shift into jaguars, so she hoped he would fall into that category. Considering the fact a werewolf traveled so far into the city, he needed to be as prepared as he could.

Around ten minutes later, a rather adorable cottage is in their sights. The wolf explains that it's the closest they have to a doctor's office since they don't deal with sickness often. 

"We mostly have injuries from training or trespassers. Border disputes don't happen much either. When someone gets sick, they go to human hospitals. But whatever this is... Humans can't see it."

Laila's eyes widen with the excitement of the possibility of making a discovery. "Can you describe it for me?" she asks.

"Bruises that aren't bruises is the best way to say it. All we know is he's getting worse with no way to stop it," he says, ashamed. "We've even tried a witch at this point."

"Fascinating. I have an idea of what's happening... Is there Roundleaf Zinnia around?"

"Not that I have any knowledge of."

"Interesting... I'll have to see it then."

The werewolf leads them inside and takes them to an isolated room. Inside was a man covered in deep, dark violet patches with a woman who looked somewhat similar to the werewolf leading them next to him.

"Aaron," the woman says breathily, shock in her eyes. "Which one's the shifter?"

"Well, it's certainly not me, but I'm the one helping," Laila exclaims, quickly rushing to the man's bedside. "Just by a glance, it looks like a wolfsbane overdose. I can do tests to make sure, of course."

"Why isn't the shifter tending to him?" the woman growls, her eyes seeming to flash.

"I don't have powers, believe it or not," Lilith grumbles, her arms still closed around herself. "But she knows her shit."

"My vulgar friend is right! I know what I'm doing concerning medical... things with the supernatural. Haven't done much on live werewolves, but dead ones I've studied were in remarkable condition!" Laila chirps, poking one of the dark violet patches. When he doesn't flinch, she smiles. "It's Roundleaf Zinnia overdose. I can help if I get some Three-Leaved Pinflowers. It has the exact opposite effects of Roundleaf Zinnia, so it  _should_  reverse whatever happened to him!"

The werewolves looked at the purple-haired woman with shock as she keeps poking and prodding at the man with the violet patches. The female gasps as tears come to her eyes, which Lilith assumed were from the joy of knowing her mate could be saved.

She looked away, scanning the room to find a window. When she saw an open one, she watched as the children screeched with laughter as they played. Instinctively, she smiled thinking of Tristan being able to do that someday.

"Hey," the male werewolf says, scaring the cat-shifter shitless. "I just wanted to thank you for helping us out. Your friend over there is fine with staying here, so I'll help you out of the territory if you want to leave."

"No, I'm waiting for her. If I don't make her leave with me, she'll never go on her own."

"That might take a while. Nobody here has any idea what Three-Leaved Pinflowers are."

She rolls her eyes, "Just ask the doctor over there. She knew what his problem was by  _poking him_. I'm sure she'll know where to get some."

"It only grows in Indonesia!" Laila exclaims, "Very expensive to get shipped here, but I can get it done."

Lilith groans, "How much?"

"Probably... About 650,000 for a single flower. I need at least 3 to make," she makes a motion toward the werewolf on the bed, "all this better."

"Tell me a definitive number, Laila."

The woman takes a pause, writing out numbers in the air. "$1,950,000.73"

The cat-shifter groans again and puts her head into her hands. "Ugh, fine. But the wolf owes me for this."

"I have a name," he tries to say but is ignored by both Laila and Lilith. "Just saying."

-

It took a few hours, but Lilith was able to get the $1,950,000.73 transferred to her account. She got exactly 7 phone calls about it, which annoyed her immensely.

"Alright, Doctor Laila, how long til' those flowers get here?" the blond asks, leaning against the wall she was standing near. "I can't stay here forever."

"Two days, at the latest."

"Thank Bastet," she mutters. Lilith looks out the window once again, watching people outside point at her and whisper. Occasionally someone would squeak when they met her eyes. "Is there a bathroom I could use?" she asks, her eyes locked on the outside.

"Yeah. It's the door at the end of the hall," Aaron replies, pointing through the doorway. 

Saying she was terrible at trying to look as if she was comfortable was an understatement. Lilith looked as if she felt eyes were watching every single pore she had. Once she shut and locked the bathroom door, she pulled out her cellphone and called Mason.

"You're still alive?" he asks, surprise in his voice.

"Shut up," she growls. "I need you to pick up Tristan tonight. You can stay at mine, but I need you to pick him up and keep him in your sight at all times."

"What's going on?"

"I have to stay in the wolf territory for a couple of days. Laila figured out what was wrong with it, but getting the stuff to cure it here is going to take a little while," she sighs. "Look, just keep him safe. I moved the rifle, but he knows where it is, okay?"

"I better not have to tell him you got yourself killed, kitty."

"Nah, I tell him myself," she says with a laugh. "Just keep him safe, blue eyes."

After he hangs up, Lilith turns off the device and shoves it into her pocket. She walks up to the window and shuts the curtain so she can use the bathroom in peace. However, before she can even put the lid up, the door bursts open and a random werewolf is suddenly in her face.

The cat-shifter groans, "You have  _got_  to be kidding me."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yee-Haw.


	5. Pyromancer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilith Allen had her entire life planned before she was even 10 years old. Find a mate, have kits, and live happily ever after. However, her life was disrupted when she turned 18. Her parents died and left her little brother, Tristan, in her care. 
> 
> Even if people thought she was too immature, she was determined to have a good life for him to live, like her parents had planned - despite the fact it ruined the plan she had for the past 8 years.
> 
> She does meet her mate, though. However unlikely it was for them to fall in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited version!!

"Who are you?" the wolf snarls, getting up close to smell her.

"None of your business, mutt," she says with disgust, pushing his face away and putting a hand on her gun. "I just wanted to use the bathroom."

With a huff, the brute leaves the room. Granted, the door was ripped clean off its hinges, but he left. With an annoyed sigh, she leaves and heads back to the room Laila was still fangirling in. "Hey, what's up with your damn pack members, dude?" she asks the dark-haired werewolf. "One just broke down the bathroom door to ask me who I am."

"Shit? I'm so sorry about that " he says apologetically, fear in his eyes, for some reason. "What'd he look like?"

"Like I know!" she snarls, "All I know is that it was a dude strong enough to break a door."

"That's... everybody here," he mutters. "Oh, wait, was he bald?"

Lilith shakes her head out of anger, "Look, an apology was enough. Just leave it."

She kind of liked him. He seemed to be genuine, but  _goddamn_  he was annoying the shit out of her.

"Look," the wolf says, apparently determined to get his face ripped off. "I'm trying to be nice here. I would rather you two be safe, but I can't make that happen if you don't let me."

"I've escaped wolves before. Laila, too," she says sharply, turning away from him. "Let me reiterate.  _We don't need your help._ "

Lilith never liked how werewolves tried to please everyone around them. It wasn't just annoying but it also just made her feel like she owed them things. She didn't like being indebted to others. Maybe it was because she was scared of having to do things, but she truly thought it was because of her fear for her brother.

She knew she thought about him too much, but what do you think of when you're constantly afraid the most important thing in your life will just disappear from your grasp? You think about it constantly, trying to protect it from anything possible.

"Don't get so cocky, kitty," he says lowly, threatening but gentle.

As if suddenly come over with an overwhelming rage, she grabs his collar and pulls him close enough so he could feel her breath. "You aren't allowed to call me that," she growls loudly. She could hear audible gasps from those nearby, but she ignored them as she pushed the wolf away as best as she could.

-

Aaron touched where the cat-shifter grabbed his shirt and stood in shock for a few moments while the blond wanders over to her friend. It wasn't the first time he'd been grabbed like that, but it was the only time anyone had walked away without a threat.

As confused as he was, he left her alone and went to comfort his sister. She was so happy that Kaden could be saved, but still worried that something might happen before he could open his eyes again. "He'll be alright."

"I'm sorry for the other night," she whispers, gently running her hand down her mate's arm. "I've been scared ever since he ended up... like this."

"I promised mom and dad that I'd do anything for you before they moved, didn't I?" he asks, moving to catch his sister's eye. When she looks over to him, he tries to give a gentle smile. "It was a pinky promise."

Alex smiles back, "Yeah."

-

"As soon as you heal this dude, we are leaving, got it?" Lilith whispers to her overly-excited friend. 

"Yeah, yeah. I can always stay here by myself, though," she mumbles. "You know how well I can fight."

"I know, but I don't trust you here alone."

"How nice of you, darling." The blond rolls her eyes as Laila looks over and smiles, "Tristan needs you. Maybe you should go home before Mason steals him from you."

"Blue eyes hates children. Unlikely," she says, chuckling. "But the kiddo is fine. He likes having my friends at the house."

"Well, not my fault if that fucking pyromancer burns the place down, then. I tried to get you to go back there," she sighs, turning to face the blond with a rare, genuine smile and holds out her hand. "It's my job to treat the supernatural. You can leave me here, I'll be fine."

"If you make even one mistake, they'll try to kill you," the cat-shifter tries to negotiate. She takes her firearm out of its holster and places it in the open palm of her friend.

The purple-haired woman laughs quietly, "So be it."

"Fuck you, Laila."

"If only that feeling were mutual, honey. I find you very pretty, though," she chuckles. Glancing out of the window, she scoffs. "If you want to stay, then stay. Nobody is going to tell you otherwise."

Lilith sighs, moving into the corner to sulk. Not one part of her body expected Laila to beg her to stay, but it would've been pretty fucking nice in her mind.

She wasn't going to leave, she knew that, but she hoped that it wouldn't be more than a couple of hours, let alone days. If it was longer than planned, she didn't know what she'd do. She knew damn well that her brother wouldn't survive longer than a week with Mason, especially with how he cooks. Every meal from that guy tasted like literal shit.

Even if she was making the joke to just herself, it helped her feel just the tiniest bit better. The blond looks over to the wolves who were quietly talking in the chairs next to the bed. Their hands were linked in a way she often did with Tristan to comfort him after the occasional nightmare. The woman who had aggressively asked why Lilith wasn't tending to her mate catches her eye and says something to Aaron before getting up to approach.

A smile rests on the brunette's face even if a scowl was on the cat's.


	6. Little Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited version!!

The brunette was a few inches taller, but not an intimidating way. "Thank you for bringing your friend here," she says quietly. "She's... remarkably good at what she does." 

"Of course she is. She's studied the supernatural since she was fourteen," she says somewhat defensively. It wasn't on purpose, though. Unable to comfortably meet the wolf's eyes, her gaze shifts to the window.

Alex follows where her gaze moved to and lights up, "Would you like a tour of the territory?"

"I'd rather not."  
  
"Why? Are you scared?" she playfully mocks. It was funny, even if Lilith didn't particularly like the woman. "My brother's the Alpha, you'd be safe."

Suddenly, time seems to stop and rewind as Lilith runs that last line through her head again. "There's no way that he's the Alpha. I've met  _babies_  more dominant than him."

"You'd be surprised," the brunette mumbles to herself. "He'd be more than happy to take you on a tour. I need to stay with my husband, but he can go with you."

Lilith takes a moment. "What the hell," she says as casually as possible. Excitement coursed through her veins as she thought of racing through the trees like she used to do with her mother as a child. The thoughts caused a surge of adrenaline even if they were only memories.

Her gaze swiped over the violets that were growing in the windowsill, a smile forming on her face without her even realizing. She didn't notice them before. She had always found them gorgeous, though. 

The clearing of someone's throat brings her back to reality and even though she was in her human form at the moment, she still made the little 'mrrp' sound that cats do when they're surprised. "You still want that tour?"

Unable to verbally respond, Lilith just nods, still softly smiling as her eyes stay locked on the violets. 

-

Within minutes of being outside, the blond was itching to ask if she could shift. Being in between the trees made her instincts go off. "You wouldn't mind if I shifted, would you?" she blurts out. "I don't even need you to carry my stuff. I left my gun with Laila."

"Oh, no I don't mind at all! But, uh, could I ask something first?" he asks awkwardly as Lilith begins to take off her clothes. He was never particularly fond of watching others strip before shifting. When she hums, he assumes that it was yes. "How do cat-shifters work? I've never seen one before, well, you."

"Different months, different cats. Spring and summer usually mean really big cats, while winter and fall usually mean anything from house cats to mountain lions. There's always the odd one out here or there, but it's held for my family," she explains, pulling off her undershirt and leaving her in just her underwear. "I can feel you trying to guess my birthday. February 14th."

"Valentines Day?" he says, shock written on his face and in his voice. "You seem a bit cold for that to be your birthday."

"I've never been one for... Look, romance isn't for me," she mumbles, trying to avoid the presumed question. "It never has been."

"You never thought of finding a mate?" More shock, considering it wasn't much of an appropriate question for the moment. Lilith's eyes light up as she remembers a spot that she used to go to with her friends in middle school.

"We can talk about whatever the fuck you want if you just follow me."

-

A half-hour later, the two arrive at an abandoned tree house with many initials carved into the trunk of the tree it was built on. Lilith had since shifted back and dressed and was eagerly climbing up the ladder. The wolf was bent over, trying to catch his breath, and looked up to see the cat-shifter sitting with her legs crossed waiting for him on the floor of the treehouse.

The treehouse was so old that it creaked each time she took a breath and almost matched the canopy above. It made for amazing scenery, but it also looked like nobody should even touch it.

"If you're scared of heights, there's a stump right next to you that you can sit on," she chuckles.

"Thanks," he says breathily.

"To answer your earlier question, I had my whole life planned out from the time I was ten. Finding a mate was a part of that until four years ago..." She stopped to ask herself whether or not she should tell him. "When my parents died. They made it clear in the will they made that they wanted my little brother to stay in my care."

"You have a little brother?"

She sighs, smiling as she thinks of the day she first held Tristan in her arms, "Yeah. And he's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I, uh, was thirteen when he was born. I was elated to have someone to care for, but then my parents let me take over for a night... and then I burst into their room crying that I was too tired to deal with him any longer... After ten minutes."

"My sister is only two minutes younger than me," Aaron muses. "We always annoyed each other to the max."

"The bigger the age gap, the more you feel like a parent. Not that I want to change it, though," the blond sighs. She was telling the truth. She may not have felt much like an older sister after she took custody of her brother, but being a parent was filled with pride and joy that you don't get as a sibling. "If he calls me mom one day, I won't say anything."

"So you don't care?" he asks. It was kind of remarkable to him that someone could be okay with their little sibling calling them mom.

"Why would I?" she exclaims defensively. "My only goal is to make sure he comes out being a happy, successful human being! I don't give a shit what he calls me!"

He paused, "Sorry. I just don't understand it."

Lilith grumbles and bites her thumbnail before she gives as friendly a smile as she could. "I shouldn't have gotten defensive about it. It might've been disrespectful, but it was out of confusion."


	7. No Harm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited version!!

"Your name is Laila, right?" the brunette asks as the other woman passes by. 

"Yes, it is, dearie. May I have yours?" She smiles gently as she gazes at her mate. He looked at peace even if everyone around him was worried sick.

"Alex. And this is Kaden."

Laila smiles, "My relationships never last long. That's one of the reasons I love studying werewolves. You all seem to form life-lasting bonds at some point in your lives. Ah, could I also ask you a question?"

"Anything."

Alex felt that she had a debt to be paid to this woman, even if no price was negotiated. "What's it like finding the one person you want to be your mate?"

"It was like... finding the final puzzle piece to yourself. I've heard humans go through it too," she says gently, grabbing her mate's hand. "Do you believe in soulmates?"

"I'd love to, but I don't."

"Well, what's stopping you, dearie?" Alex asks, somewhat mocking Laila. "I believe in soulmates. And the Moon Goddess."

The purple-haired woman sits down beside the werewolf, "My disbelief in anything outside of my mind and scientifically proven things."

"Well, that can be limiting," she chuckles. "I find it silly."

-

"We should get going," Aaron sighs, rising from the stump.

"You can. I'll come back in a little while," the blond cat-shifter says, looking up at the canopy of the trees. "I will come back, by the way. Not one for lying. Especially when you know where I live."

He nods, still a bit upset with himself for not thinking before he spoke. "Sure."

Lilith scoffs and rolls her eyes, "Wow, I was right. Infants are more intimidating than you. I have a bit of advice for you: walk with your head up instead of down."

"Like I haven't heard that before," he growls.

"Wasn't saying you didn't, just observing a habit. Don't feel bad for yourself either, Mr. Alpha. It makes a bad impression on outsiders," she says with a single, dry laugh. "You can go, you know. You don't have to listen, but you do anyway."

"It'd be rude."

"Mmm... No." As much as it wasn't funny to him, she found the situation hilarious. Her giggles were almost infectious. "Look, you're cute and all, but I'm not looking for someone at the moment."

The loud laughter that burst from her as soon as his face heated made him realize that she was joking. "Not funny!" he grumbles.

"Oh, God," she sighs, laughter fading slowly. "It's been years since I laughed like that. Sorry. Although, you are cute." He turns and immediately starts walking away in the direction they came from. "I mean it!" she calls as he disappears behind some trees.

Maybe werewolves weren't  _that_  bad.

-

"Oh, you're back!" Alex exclaims, meeting her brother's eyes. "And without the cat-shifter, I see."

"Ah, yeah. She wanted to stay outside for a little while." He sighs as he moves to sit. Laila had since left to explore for a time, so it was just the three. "She took me to some... treehouse in the middle of the woods."

"Ooh, what'd you do there?" she asks. Even if she was worried, they were still brother and sister. "Did you go K-I-S-S-I-N-G?"

"Really? You're such a bitch," he laughs, pushing her gently. "But I still love you."

"Aww, how nice. You're the best brother I could've ever wished for," she muses, scrunching up her nose and cooing at him. She pinches his cheek for a moment and smiles when he rolls his eyes. "I adore you."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, uh, she has a little brother... Which means she wasn't scared for  _her_  life when I found her." The tone of their conversation changes drastically as Alex opened her mouth to speak before she was interrupted. "I feel terrible. What if she had him just behind her when I was there? What if he was scared?"

The brunette grabs her brother's hand and squeezes it. "You said she had a gun at the door, right? Would she risk doing anything like that in front of him?"

"Yes. She was terrified and would've shot me if I tried anything. Adrenaline is a thing, Alex!" he exclaims, squeezing his sister's hand in return. "What do I do?"

"For starters, you can listen to me and not feel sorry for yourself," Lilith says with a disappointed tone in her voice as she puts her hair into a ponytail. "I shouldn't have to say it twice, kiddo. Also, you shouldn't share things like that without permission."

"He panicked!" Alex exclaims, becoming defensive over her brother immediately. "It's-"

"Don't lecture me on how it's normal. It was just another habit I was observing." She shrugs and scans the room for Laila. "Where's the doctor gone?"

"Left," Alex grumbles, suddenly wishing that she had never let the woman leave the room. Even if the cat-shifter brought help, she was seriously annoying after gaining some confidence. 

"I should go find her, then. Sorry to bother you guys," she smiles gently with a wave and turns to leave the room again. As she walks through the building once more, she notices a bit more than she did before.

The floor doesn't creak, yet the walls do. Even if the fireplace wasn't lit, seeing people laughing near it still made the area look warm. There weren't any curtains or blinds on the windows like there was enough trust between the wolves for them to not be worried about being seen. 

As nice as it was, she still didn't like it.

She didn't understand why she didn't like it. It would be nice to trust so many people. To be safe with so many people. Maybe being a werewolf wasn't such a bad thing after all. She could always ask to move, but the other werewolves wouldn't enjoy a couple of cat-shifters barging in. She takes a breath as she opens the door. The air outside was cool, even without a breeze, and she watched as children scrambled by while playing a game. She glanced around the field and spotted adults whispering about something to their friends while they glanced at her. Just so she could freak them out, she waved with a smile before going on her way.

Lilith made sure to avoid running into anyone that could cause her trouble and greeted a few children that walked passed her. The land that the wolves lived on was nicer than the city she grew up in, but it couldn't beat the greatness of an overcrowded city.

She passed by a group of teenagers who were stupidly busy on their phones and chuckled as she remembered her first cell phone. It was an old piece-of-shit flip phone that her dad gave her on her eleventh birthday for 'safety reasons.' It was never used for that, but it was still a piece of shit.

The sudden breeze that comes through cuts through her jacket makes her shiver involuntarily as she spots a chain-link fence about 20 feet away. Coincidentally, Laila is also standing with her fingers linked in the fence while she stands on her toes as she watches the wolves were training.

Even if Lilith couldn't see her friend's face, she knew that her eyes were wide and her jaw was hanging. "What's up, Doc?" she calls, hands rubbing together to try and warm up. "You don't look like you're taking notes."

"Come look at this!" the purple-haired woman hisses waving at the cat-shifter. Lilith glances into the fenced area before she shrugs.

"What's so special? All I see are wolves fighting."

"Look closer! There are whelps in there training," she says, a high pitched squeal almost escaping. "They're Tristan's age, at most. Has he ever shifted?"

Lilith sighs, "I thought I explained this. Since he's going to be a big cat, he's going to take longer to shift. He has a few years before that happens, Laila."

"But these are children! I've never seen someone so young able to shift," she mutters in amazement. "I mean... Even you were eleven before you shifted."

"Girls take longer. Those are probably all boys," the cat-shifter grumbles, gesturing toward the adolescent wolves. "Not that you should check. A restraining order wouldn't be fun, now would it?"

"I'm risking nothing, kitty," the woman chuckles. "Why'd you come to find me anyway?"

"Do your doctor thing and you tell me," Lilith snorts, rolling her eyes. Of course, Laila already knew, she was as perceptive as she was odd.

"You like the alpha, dearie. His sister doesn't like it... I mean, I can go on," she says absent-mindedly. "I mean, there's no harm-"

"Don't," she snarls menacingly. "Don't say it, Laila."

Smirking, the doctor takes a breath in. "Wouldn't dream of it, dear."


	8. What Happened to Once An Hour?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay!! New chapter! Took a while, but, hey, it's good!

Laila was well-liked among the werewolves, despite her being human, which made for plenty of uncomfortable moments for the cat-shifter. She didn't speak unless spoken to, but even then it was only children that wanted to talk with her.

The inherent dislike that the wolves had for her was just as scary as it was comforting. It meant that she wouldn't be welcome to stay, but it also meant that her life may be in danger for however long she's there.

"Hey, doc," she chirps, nudging the woman gently. "I need to call Mason. I'm gonna be over there if you need me."

Laila nods, shooing her away as another werewolf comes up to ask some questions. Taking the hint, Lilith pulls her phone out of her pocket as she walks over to the nearby treeline. As the phone rings steadily, she nervously watches her friend get flooded with more questions.

"What happened to the once an hour thing, kitty?" Mason asks, the worry evident in his voice slipping through the phone.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry..." she trails off, biting her lip. "I'm coming home as soon as I can, promise. Next time you talk to Javi, tell him I said hi, would you? Been a while."

"And you're changing the topic, why?" he says accusingly.

"I'm nervous, that's all. How's Tristan?" Lilith twirls a lock of her hair through her fingers with her eyes shut. She focused on doing math in her head to calm her nerves.

"He's doing alright. Worried as hell about you, but alright." She hears a sigh come from him that sounds more frustrated than stressed. "Y'know that I love you, right?"

"Yeah, I know. But I also know that you're angry with me right now, so get the lecture over with, blue eyes." She braces for the paternal lecture that she expected but only ended up with a dry chuckle.

"God, am I that predictable?" The brief moment of silence turns into a minute before he speaks again. "Lilith, when you get back, you better believe I'm tearing you a new one."

"Sir, yes, sir," she sighs, a smile creeping onto her face. "I'm serious about Javi, though. And tell him I keep nagging you about your wedding so we can talk about it."

"Always do, kitty. Stay safe over there or I'll kill you."

"Always do."

After he hangs up, she loses the smile and looks to the ground. There was no way in hell that she was going to enjoy even one second of being here, at least not anymore. Knowing that her brother was worried about her made every second she spent here feel like another guilty moment.

Mulling over her guilt made the time pass quickly, and soon it was sunset. It was at that point that the alpha came out to find them and show them to where they'd be staying. However, Lilith quickly became uncomfortable as people started to whisper again. The staring was a challenge and the whispers were just an extension.

She only understood when they made it to the building. It was quite possibly the most extravagant thing she'd ever seen. Covered in fairy lights and thoroughly decorated, it was easily the most expensive house in the territory and she was  _not_  having it.

"What the hell is this?" she snarls, unafraid to get in his face. She was half-tempted to claw his face off, even. "I am  _not_  staying here."

"It has the most protection in the territory. It's the best place for you two to stay." He tried his best to defend the plan, but the blond just growled to herself.

"This plan of yours is going to ruin my reputation!" she snaps. "I'd rather sleep in the woods."

She figured that would be it, but he grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away. It brought back memories of when her parents first died. She had to be held back by security guards because she was fighting to get to her parents.

From then on, she was terrified of people grabbing her unexpectedly.

She carried a knife on her, as well, merely in case she had to go hand-to-hand even if she sucked at it. However, a knife slicing him across the forearm made him let go long enough for her to begin running. Lilith ended up shifting between a stride and vanished into the darknesses of the trees, not looking back as she tried to find a secure place.

"Well," Laila remarked. "That went well, didn't it? I'll take a nice, comfy bed please."

-

Lilith had scaled an ancient oak tree and waited to make sure that he didn't send anyone after her. Luckily, she was left to rest in peace, away from everyone and everything. Her reputation was important. If she was thought to have slept with the alpha, people would start targeting the pack out of spite and she would start having people follow her home again.

It wasn't safe for anyone.

She'd rather protect everyone and make it seem selfish than put it out there. It was harder to try and get dirt on her if it always seemed like she was self-centered. There was no way she going to let innocent people get hurt just so she could look like a good person.

After she had drifted off to sleep, she heard an animal take a step not too far away. It smelled of a wolf, specifically, the alpha. Of course, he went after her himself. She stayed silent as she moved to a place she could comfortably wait him out. 

He started to whine a few minutes later and ended up curling up at the base of the tree. The tip of his tail rested at his nose and he huffed as he closed his eyes, much like dogs do. It was uncanny the similarities between him and dogs, honestly.

She did the same and fell asleep high up in the tree. She was not reachable by normal means, so she was safe for the time being. That was enough for now, at least. At least until the morning.


	9. Fierce Warriors of Flour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An influx of chapters! Chapter 10 should be out soon!! Hopefully...

The next morning, Lilith jumped down from the tree and found her clothes (and weapons) neatly placed at the base of the tree where the alpha was sleeping the night before. She felt somewhat touched by the gesture, even.

She shifted back to her human form carefully and dressed slowly. She was still tired and would probably have to walk back just to keep her energy for the rest of the day. She paid attention to the path back and appreciated the scenery around her. The trees made the ground look dappled and the birds were loud but still comforting.

When she finally did make it back, a crowd was gathered at the small cabin that Laila's patient was in, which was odd. She only understood when the same patient she remembered was helped through the doors by his mate and the alpha.

Even as she tried to avoid eye contact, the alpha saw her and transferred Laila into his spot before rushing over to her. The broad smile on his face made him seem too dorky to be in charge. 

"Your doctor friend is a miracle worker. How much you want for her?" he asks playfully.

She scoffs, "I want to go home. And I'm taking her with me."

"We could use her, though. I was serious when I offered to let her stay yesterday."

Lilith crossed her arms as people started looking over in her direction. "Fine,"  she grumbles. Laila would want to stay and she was fed up with being in wolf's territory. "I'm going back home, then. Follow me and I'll cut you."

She walks away as gracefully as she can, her homing instinct kicking in as she adjusts her course. She wasn't afraid of him, per se, but she was afraid of the fact that she did enjoy his company. Tristan was her top priority and she wouldn't risk him for anything.

Hell, she gave up her life for him.

She wasn't alone for as long as she wished she could've been, though. The alpha caught up with her again and tried to speak again. However, true to her word, she pulls out her knife and points it at him.

"Look, all I want is to pay you back," he says, holding his hands up. "Maybe dinner? Lunch?"

"There's no way in hell I'm going on a date with you," she deadpans, crossing her arms as she keeps her eyes locked on his movements. "You got plenty of eligible bachelorettes in your pack, don't you? Find one of them."

"Just let me even the score, for fuck's sake."

Lilith falters for just a second, the words on her tongue yet unable to speak. It was a situation she'd never been in for too many reasons to count, but the top one being that she was speechless.

"If you want to even the score," she begins, closing her eyes tight and putting away her weapon. She hoped he was being genuine. "Make a deal with me."

"Anything," he prompts, bringing his hands down.

"Protection from your pack members. No guards, just get them to leave me alone." He nods, agreeing immediately. "Can I go now, then?"

"Of course, yeah."

-

The door creaked open and inside became silent. The first thing Lilith saw was that her kitchen was a mess of flour and other baking products and that Mason and her brother were mysteriously silent.

She groans, going for the cabinet of her cleaning products, but is stopped by a tiny, flour-covered hand sliding across her face. Her brother, white painted on his face like war markings, just wiped flour on her face.

"Oh, you little brat!" she exclaims, grabbing him from under the arms and holding him. She tickled him until he told her to stop and then hugged him. "So I heard you were worried about me from a certain pyromancer."

A small gasp, "He wasn't supposed to tell you! It was one of my bedtime worries!"

"He only did it because he knows I love you, buddy." Lilith grins as Mason reveals himself, also with his face painted in flour. "Either of you wants to explain this or are you going to keep quiet?"

"We're the Fierce Warriors of Flour!" Mason exclaims, snatching Tristan from her arms and launching him onto the couch. "And we're protecting the homestead of Madame Lilith."

"Really now? Protecting it from what?" she asks with her arms crossed. Mason knew that she meant 'what did you tell my kid?' and not what she said.

"Uh... Ghosts," he says unconvincingly.

"Mhm. Tristan, what're you protecting the house from?" she asks, smirking when Mason looked panicked.

"Wolves!" he shouts happily, giggling as he smears flour over the floor. Such a happy-go-lucky kid, he is.

"Mason, what the fuck?" she whisper-yells at her friend. "I can't believe you!"

The pyromancer looks extremely confused and places his hands on her shoulders dramatically. "He was the one who came up with it, I just didn't want you to stab me. Self-preservation and all."

"I don't trust you, blue-eyes," she says in a low tone. She did the 'I am watching you' movement and everything. "But you kept him safe, so I can't be too mad."

Mason grins, "See? I'm not a bad caretaker!"

"I hate you," Lilith scoffs. But she really couldn't be mad. "Laila didn't want to come back with me, so I left her there. Don't be surprised if she does the thing."

The thing was something the doctor did when she was excited. She could click on the first contact she saw and text that person about all of her findings in all caps with no punctuation. It also tended to happen  _way_  after midnight.

The pyromancer shrugs. Laila was, well, Laila. And she would do as she pleased. "Well, hey," he chirps, "At least we'll know she's okay."

"Yeah," she says quietly.

"Don't beat yourself up, kitty." Mason places a flour-covered hand on her shoulder and waits for the reality to kick in. The shit-eating grin on his face was a telltale sign something was up and Lilith knew.

She looked to the hand resting on her shoulder and beamed mischievously. "Oh, it's on!" she shrieks, leaping forward to grab a handful of flour.


	10. Fascinating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter centered around Laila! I love my girl and I want to write more of her and show off her personality.

Laila wasn't surprised to hear that her friend left. She was never really surprised by what people did, though. Most people are predictable, even the most unpredictable of souls. She simply ran the numbers and went with what had the highest chance of happening. And she was usually right.

That's why the supernatural was always so fascinating to her. There was no information on them, so they were almost completely unpredictable in their abilities! It was a treasure trove of fixation. Once she was unable to fixate on one creature, another was available to turn her gaze to, and she found it wonderful.

At the moment, she was making her way to her one-and-only patient to ask a few more questions. Most of the werewolves said nothing, but the ones that did were very nice and even smiled at her. She wondered why but was more focused on keeping her single patient healthy long enough to get some decent information out of him.

"Hello!" she greets politely as she opens the door to his recovery room. Alex was nowhere to be seen, but Kaden was standing by the window. He seemed distracted, so she called out again. "Heeellooooo! It's Laila!"

He looks over with a small, forced smile. "Hey."

"Just here to ask some questions," the doctor chirps, ignoring the fact he didn't want her in there. "I've never really dealt with Roundleaf Zinnia overdoses before, so I'd like to get some data."

He doesn't move and instead looks back out the window. "Sure, why not."

"You seem distracted, Kaden," Laila says, furrowing her brows. "What's wrong?"

Surprised she noticed, he glances back at her to see the woman looking at him instead of her notes. "Nothing," he mumbles. "It's nothing."

"Liar," the doctor grumbles. "Damn, I thought I was good at gaining trust."

Kaden chuckles, fully turning around to face Laila. "I trust you. It's nothing."

"Let's get to the questions," she sighs. She knew he was lying. "Are you experiencing any pain, blacking out, or anything else unusual?"

"I have some pain in my left knee," he responds.

They continue with the questions and once they're finished, Laila rises from her seat to leave. She doesn't even get to pick up her notes before she's stopped. "Didn't know you were stopping by, doctor."

It was from Alex.

"Just collecting some data, dear." Clipboard in her hands, she tries to walk out of the room but is physically stopped by the brunette. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

Laila pushes by, annoyed. She hated her work being interrupted. She wanted to archive it and get the entire set of questions buried underneath her other works. It was awkward and she  _despised_  embarrassing social interactions. There was nothing she hated more.

The house she was staying at was comfortable. It had room for all of her files and she was allowed to work in peace. She enjoyed it. What she didn't enjoy was the alpha disrupting her thought.

"Just the person I was looking for!" he exclaims, trying to get her to smile. When it doesn't work, he continues. "Look, uh, this is a weird question, but could you get into contact with Lilith for me? It's... personal."

She holds back a growl, "If I agree, will you leave me  _alone_?"

"Anything!" he exclaims.

Laila nods along and continues into the house. She safely makes it into her (very messy) room and begins sorting her notes. It was peaceful and silent. No more questions, but she did have to make good on her promise. 

A simple text and then she went back to organizing. She didn't expect one back, but when she got one, she was honestly happy to get out of her work. She missed her friends, but this was an amazing opportunity to gather data.

' _What's he want?_ '

' _You act like I  know_ '

' _You're fun_ '

She left it at that and shoved her phone in her back pocket. Pulling out a drawer on her filing cabinet, she grimaced at the state of disorganization that the files were in. They weren't even in alphabetical order.

"God, what was I doing?" she mutters, pulling out each file one by one.

Once she grabbed the final one, she hesitated. When was the last time she read over her notes? Shaking her head, she brings it closer and opens it to at least skim over the findings. Most of it wasn't anything exceptional, but then she got to one that she remembered clearly.

Sylvie Allard.

A banshee that she met while visiting France. She begged the doctor to help her, but sadly she didn't make it. Even after an autopsy, Laila had no idea what plagued the poor thing. It was fascinating, even if she didn't succeed in treating her.

The notes were generic, the symptoms, likely candidates, and then a description of the conditions the patient was living in. The symptoms were consistent with Neilcilyce, but the antidote didn't work.

It was a mystery that she couldn't hope to solve.

Tired of thinking it over again, she shuts the file and places it in its spot. She continues through her notes, trying her hardest to place Sylvie Allard's file in the back of her mind. Laila took a break roughly fifteen minutes later to try and focus on something else.

Instead, the one file she didn't want to think about was stuck in her head.

She thought through the symptoms again and gasped. It was never Neilcilyce. It was something that couldn't be cured through medicine. A curse.

Specifically, Malédiction du Froid. Curse of the Cold. It mimics the symptoms of Neilcilyce to throw the victim off. The fact that she didn't catch on at the time made her extremely angry, but she had something more important to do.

She rushed to get up and scooped up Sylvie's file. She ran for the first time in a long while. Out of her room, out of the house, and straight into Aaron. He cocks a brow at her when she glares at him.

"Where're you heading to, Doc?" he asks.

"I'm going to France!" she exclaims, papers clung to her chest as she pushes past him.


	11. A Possible Proposal

After the flour fight, all three of them were laying on the kitchen floor to catch their breath. It'd been a while since Lilith had made such a mess in the house. Years.

"I feel like I inhaled five years off my life," Mason says with a cough. "I am _never_ touching flour again."

The cat-shifter laughs, "Yeah, I don't blame you."

Silence didn't exist when the house you lived in was so old you could _smell_ the ghosts that stayed in the walls. Alright, a bit of an exaggeration, but it was close to true. The building was older than Lilith's great-grandparents, and they were pretty old.

The walls creaked when the wind blew, and the floors rasped whenever there was a slight movement.

"Hey, kitty," the pyromancer says breathily, "I got a question."

She nods but then realizes that he probably wasn't looking at her. "What is it?"

"How should I propose?"

A gasp came from both Tristan and Lilith. Never in a million years did they see the oh-so non-commital Mason wanting to get married. "Oh my god," she says teasingly. "You're gonna propose?"

"Well, I plan on it," he grumbles. "But I don't know if I should do it in public or not. Javi would like the attention, but what if he says no?"

"Hmm... I may have an idea," Lilith muses. "I could always just... call him and ask. Y'know, girl talk."

A heavy sigh, "I dunno."

"Well, you can think it over in the shower." She pushes herself up and waits for Mason to do the same. "You can borrow some of Dad's clothes while I wash yours."

Tristan scrambles to stand and slips on a pile of flour that was left on the ground. He catches himself and takes his sister's hand when she offers it. All three of them had to clean up before going anywhere. 

The cat-shifter's phone buzzed. She snatched it off the counter and turned it on to see a new text from Laila. Reading it, she sighs heavily. What did the alpha want now? She texted back and waited for a response, which came quickly. 

' _You act like I know_ '

Answering with a witty quip, she turns off her phone and puts the request she got in the back of her mind. She took Tristan into the downstairs bathroom and set his bath up, shutting the door most of the way to let him bathe in peace. Meanwhile, she had a kitchen to clean.

-

Everyone was free of flour and so was the kitchen, but now there was another problem that arose. Lilith didn't know how to contact the alpha. That and Mason was stressing about something that had a very, _very_ simple solution.

"Hey, blue eyes," the cat-shifter starts, wrapping an arm around her little brother. "Can you Google someone's phone number?"

He groans, throwing his head back. "I'm worried about bigger things!"

"Oh, yeah? You got a solution, I don't."

The pyromancer grumbles about something, but Lilith ignores it until he resigns to the fact she's right. It didn't take long, though. He wanted to fixate on something else.

"You suck."

The blond grins, scrunching up her nose. She always won the fights they had, but that's because Mason was plain stupid. Javi was the smart one in the relationship.

"Don't be like that, blue eyes." She grins. "I'll help you first."

Before he can register what that meant, she whipped out her phone and was waiting for an answer to her call.

"Lilith-"

She cuts him off by holding up her finger. Even if he wanted to talk, she shushed him and he was, honestly, a little scared of her.

"Hey, Javi!" she chirps, smirking. "I just have a quick question. Laila wants some data."

" _Go_ _ahead,_ " he replied. It was muffled, but she turned it up just to torture Mason for a few seconds.

"How would you want to be proposed to?" She turns the phone away from her ear and turns it onto speaker mode. "I know it's weird, but you know how she is."

They could hear him taking a deep breath before he answered. " _By who?_ "

"Whoever you want," Lilith responds, trying to sound as casual as possible. She was good at faking it.

" _God, I don't know._ " A few things shuffle around on Javi's end. " _I guess we're talking about Mason then._ "

"If only! I want to be a bridesmaid once in my life and we both know Laila isn't getting married anytime soon."

The two laugh about it. Mason was intently listening, waiting for the conversation to continue. Those thirty seconds of silence were torture.

" _Anyway, I guess I'd want him to propose with it being just the two of us,_ " Javi says gently. He was quieter than he'd ever been in his entire life. " _Hell, we can stage a public proposal. After we actually get engaged._ "

Mason was in awe. He'd never heard his boyfriend talk like that before. His voice was breathy, almost like he was dreaming. 

" _Don't_ _-_ _Don't_ _tell him that,_ _though,_ " panic came through his voice. " _He_ _hasn't_ _said anything, but..._ _I_ _don't_ _think he wants to get married._ "

Lilith raises a brow at her friend. It was silently accusing and made the pyromancer feel guilty. Even if it were for nothing.

"Awe, don't say that," she coos, bringing her knees to her chest. Tristan had since fallen asleep against her shoulder and didn't hear any of the conversation. "He loves you."

Javi laughs, " _I know he does. He tells me all the time. I just don't want to make him feel like he has to do anything._ "

"Hey," she sighs, holding back her laughter. If only he knew. "Sorry for bringing this up. I gotta go, but text me later?"

" _Yeah,_ _I'll_ _text you. And you_ _don't_ _need to apologise._ " Javi coughs and you can hear the realization in the silence afterward. " _Wait,_ _isn't_ _Mason at yours?_ "

"Bye, Javi!" she chirps, quickly hanging up. She turns to the pyromancer with a grin. "I think he may have caught on."

Mason rolls his eyes, "You think?"


End file.
